Moho Forum

I've been tinkering with a story for a while now, and for some reason it's become a sort of semi-animated graphic novel.
This is the first 2 minutes of what should be about a 10 minute episode, with many more episodes to come.
The story seems a little gloomy right now, but rest assured, it will be flush with pirates, sea monsters cannibals, and even a fez-wearing monkey!
Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.

Check it out here: Under the Umbrella Tree

i like your idea of mixing graphic novel with
animation. i had a little trouble reading
some of the smaller font, but maybe
that is just me. a great project to pursue!

I like the merging of graphic novel with subtle animation. My only criticism is that I wish the text was a bit easier to read. I like the use of text blocks - a great way to eliminate the need for voice actors.

Also I think that the liquid being poured out of the bottle needs to turn darker when it is exposed in the opening of the end of the bottle. This is a bit nit-picky I know, but I realized that when it appeared it made me stop being engaged in the story and think about the mechanics of the animation instead.

The soundtrack and visuals had me hooked on the story very quickly. Definitely worth developing! Can't wait to see what happens to the main character.

Hey, cool.

I think you could even do away with the text and have a narrator. I reckon that'd be more easier to watch, so you can focus on the visuals. Also, the beeping of the alarm is almost in synch with the guitar music. If you sped up the alarm speed a little bit you could probably get the two to match which would be quite cool. Music's nice.

Thanks for the kind words and the tips!
I agree, the text needs to be larger. It looks good on my computer at home, but when I reduced it for the web it lost a lot of clarity.
Gleeful is right about the liquid too. That's another thing that changed when the file was compressed. I will make the contrast in color larger so it shows up better.
Thanks guys!

I have another question:

Aniboom, and I think Youtube, only accept files up to 300mb in size. My 2 minute video was already that big. So how do you get a longer video small enough in size to submit on the web?

Try Format Factory. Its a free program that reduces most video/audio file sizes without losing very much in quality. you can download it here: http://www.pcfreetime.com/. Its a very handy program and free!